Spotlight: Witnessed through rare contemporary strips of imagery, today’s Middle East dynamics are pieced together. Director, Marta Houske, is a participant in the Archival Panel. She notes that filmmakers will enjoy some of the specific techniques employed in making this film. For example, hand cranked 100-year-old footage had to be adjusted to give the illusion of modern day film action in order to keep the consistent pacing of the film.

Crows of the Desert is the incredible true story of one man’s brave struggle to stay alive and help save the Armenian people from near extinction in the 20th Century’s first genocide. World War One engulfed the Middle East, as Lawrence of Arabia fought side by side with the Arabs against the Ottomans. In this chaos, our hero Levon risked his life to rescue thousands of scattered, destitute survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Extraordinarily rare film, photographs, and documents, gathered from global archives, reveal the terror and heroism of a century ago in the Syrian desert.